A Means to an End
by the.Anathema
Summary: Under ReConstruction... lol. Doesn't really follow the manga completely and Loki is a bit OOC.... but my friends liked it SO GO READ AND R&R Loki x OC.
1. Prologue

Prologue

Normalcy and Lies

I'd had a pretty normal life. Grew up in a home where my parents were still together and my older sister was mean to me. My mother was a stay-at-home mom while my sister and I were little, and my father was the main moneymaker in the family; he was a lawyer and had been for quite some time. When I was ten years old my mother began college. She had aspired to become a doctor and now that's exactly what she is.

Seven years later and my mother is working at the local family clinic. My father is still a lawyer and my sister is off teaching children in a third world nation. Me, well... I'm still an average kid just wanting to get through high school, both grade wise and socially. I'm kind of a social outcast. I either know too much or just don't fit in. On top of that, my so-called 'best-friends' left me for the more 'popular' people. Not only was I an average kid, but I had an average day. You know the whole getting up, going to school, getting in trouble, eating and sleeping. Oh and of course…homework; the dreaded word that brings down my grades. It's not that I'm not smart, I'm just a huge procrastinator, I never do my homework and if I do, it's all done at the very last second possible.

Well, it all started out as a normal, average, everyday, day; but like I said, that's how it started. I got out of bed and did my morning routine, at my breakfast and left. I walked down the dreary streets for a couple miles till I finally got to school and sighed. _'A new year, a new start'_ I thought as I walked through the parking lot. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, I don't have a car, so the way to school is down the highway and then up a couple blocks on a busy street.

"Hey, Nysa!" I hear from behind me. I turn around and see Greg. I wave at him and say 'hi'. He's my best guy friend in the whole wide world. We tell each other practically everything. Practically, mind you. You see, he doesn't know that I liked him in the seventh grade. I waited for him and we walked the rest of the way to our home room class together.

"So, you ready for the new school year?" I asked as we sat in our seats.

"Ch'yeah!" he answered, a typical Greg answer.

"This is gonna be stupid. We've got more freshman this year than we did last year." I whined as I walked back out the door. Everyone was on good terms since it was a new year, but as the year progresses things will happen, arguments will occur and friends will part. But none could have started sooner…

"Matt, _don't_ follow me! _Don't _say _anything _about us being related. _Don't _talk to my friends and _don't _hang around me! _Got that!_" I heard Liz screech at her little brother as she came down the hall. Greg and I look at each other and I sighed, shook my head and walked in the opposite direction. Liz and I were friends, yeah, but she could be a little… well, a little eccentric when it came to certain things, especially her siblings. I walked quickly down the hallways and out to the front steps to wait for more people to arrive. I don't know exactly why I was there early, but _there _I was. I was so excited that school was here again. I really loved it. They only reason I loved it though was because I got to see my friends and it took up half of my day, therefore making it seem eventful. Nobody I knew was driving up and it was a little chilly, so I headed back to my homeroom.

"Hey, Nys, you wanna play poker?" Greg asked, running up to me with a deck of cards.

"Sure." I replied and walked with him back to our 'usual' spot. Greg really likes to play cards. All the time through our freshman, sophomore and junior years, Greg, Davey and I played poker, speed and any other card game we could learn. Greg had already dealt the cards out by the time I had say down. I picked up my five and we began our game. It didn't last long though, because everyone else showed up and Greg greeted Amber in the same way that he always has… "What are you doing here? Why don't you leave? No one likes you!" There's nothing you can do though. He will always be like that, and nothing will change that. Amber just ignored him and walked away. The bell had rung and the teacher had walked to the front of the class, so we quickly cleaned up our card mess and sat in our seats. There was rumored to be a new kid joining our class. He's be a Senior just like me. No one knew who the kid was, but someone said that we should find out by, I think it was, third period.

Homeroom started and ended. It was quite uneventful. In second period English, there was nothing to do, so we just sat around talking. Davey and I were sitting together and I just happened to knock my Dixon pencil, my favorite kid of pencil, on the floor, so I reached down to grab it. When I grabbed it the ground opened up underneath me. I screamed as I fell in, but no one knew what happened. No one could hear me and I continued to fall into the endless pit. I could have been falling for five minutes by now when I remembered this stupid saying from Home Star Runners' _Teen Girl Squad_: 'When you fall in an endless pit, you die of starvation.' It made me laugh at the irony of it all, and right as I began to laugh it got bright and _SLAM!_ I hit the ground hard and rolled over. The ground was wet, really wet and sticky too. That and a burning pain on my left side were all that registered before darkness consumed my mind.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Exsanguinations

Five men walked slowly into the area. The place was littered with bodies and blood imbrued the courtyard that the bodies were laying in. Some were missing parts while some were still whole. The man in front, obviously the leader, narrowed his eyes at the word scrawled on the wall with the blood of his brethren, 'Chaos.' The Assassins Guild was no more than those five people now and the only clue as to the murderer was that word.

"How? How can this be possible?" said a woman, one of the five. "Who could have done this?"

"Spread out," said the leader, "check and see if there are any survivors."

"Aye, Loki, whatever ye say," said the tallest man, Mustafa. The five of them went around checking the whole bodies and seeing if anyone got away alive.

"Look! There's a girl over here. She doesn't look like one of us. Maybe it was she who did this." Said one of the five, with a large snake-like creature, his name was Ibraham. Taulin, the only woman in the group, rushed over with Hajata, the final of the five.

"She's still alive too." Taulin softly said.

Loki came over and looked at the girl. '_What if she _is_ the one that killed everyone?' _"Kill her." He said as he walked away.

"Wait, Loki, she's coming to." Hajata called after their leader.

Loki turned around and looked down at the girl who was just waking up. '_She'll answer my questions. If not, then she will die.'_ "Bring her into the meeting room and get her something to drink. We'll question her there. Ibraham, Mustafa, come help me burn our brethren." He turned on his heel and went to work at building a pile of bodies to burn. Hajata picked up the girl and took her into the meeting room. When she was fully conscious, Taulin handed her a goblet full of water. The girl drank just a couple sips and placed the cup down on the table next to her.

"W-whe… where am I?" she asked softly. "Who are you?"

"Hold your questions for now, girl. Wait until the Master returns," said Hajata.

Nysa's POV

The blurry images cleared once I was set down. I was handed a large goblet of water. I eyed it suspiciously for a split second before taking a couple of sips, enough to wet my parched throat. I looked up at the people in the room and asked, "W-whe… where am I? Who are you?

A tall skinny man answers me, "Hold your questions for now, girl. Wait until the Master returns."

'_Wait for the Master? Master? Am I a slave or something? What the hell is going on here? All I want to know is where the hell I am and who the hell they are! Gah!' _I screamed in my head as I took in the appearances of the two people in front of me. The one who handed me the water was obviously a woman. All you could see of her face was her eyes, though. It was the same with the man. They were both wearing long cloaks and scarves that covered the tops of their heads and from the nose down. I looked back at the woman in front of me and narrowed my eyes in confusion when I saw the sign on her head band that kept her scarf on her head. '_I know I've seen that symbol before. But where? Where have I seen it? Why cant I remember anything?'_ I shifted nervously under their stares and breathed in sharp when a pain shot up my side. My hand went to it instinctively to stop the pain. I looked down and watched as blood seeped through my fingers. That's when I noticed I wasn't wearing the clothes that I had worn to school that morning. What I was wearing now looked like a warriors outfit from a cartoon. It was a tight, clingy shirt that was worn off the shoulders and showed my stomach; and pants that rested on my hips loosely, were baggy from the waist down and ended in a tight cuff at the bottom of my knees. My shoes were different too. Instead of my old converse hi-tops they were soft, but sturdy, sandals that tied up the calf of my leg. I looked up as a large, burly man; a man with a snake and no face it seemed, an another man came in the door. I stared at the last man to come in, since I had not seen him before. The others I had seen surrounding me in my haziness earlier.

"What's your name, girl?" the last man asked me, stepping in front of me.

"Why should I tell you?" I spat back at him I just didn't like the looks of these people, I shouldn't tell them anything, even if they could kill me at any second with the swords hanging at their sides.

"You would do best to answer the Master or you will pay the consequences," said the burly man. He scared me and was very intimidating, especially when he stood right over you, glaring down at you with his sword gripped tightly in his hand slowly rising. I was about to retaliate when I looked back at 'the Master' and flinched. His stare was full of bridles anger, distrust and utter loathing. Of what, I didn't know for sure, but it could only be of me since he was looking directly at me.

"Tell me your name, girl." He commanded. His voice was completely calm and sent chills down my spine. I let my eyes fall to the floor and said quietly, "Nysa."

"How did you get in here?" he asked.

"I… I don't know. I don't even know _where_ I am. All I remember is falling. I just want to go home." I replied quietly, allowing my head to drop.

"Where is your home?" the woman asked me.

"Obviously not here. It probably doesn't even exist here. For all I know I'm dreaming. Yeah that's got to be it. This is all just a terrible nightmare and I'm going to wake up as soon as I pinch myself." I said hopefully yet sarcastically, knowing that it wasn't a dream.

"I can assure you, this is no dream," the man with the snake said.

"Kill her. She trespassed on Guild territory. For that she dies." The leader said as he turned to the burly man.

"No, Loki, I think she might be very valuable to us later on. She might even know something about the word on the wall," the woman called after the leader, now identified to me as Loki. "Do you know anything about the word 'Chaos' that was on the wall outside?" the woman asked kindly.

"No. I'm sorry, I don't. It sounds familiar, kind of like a name I remember from a dream or something. Yeah, that's it… a name. I read it somewhere… something about a man named Chaos and some mystery man and a god named Balder…that's all I remember though, I'm sorry."

"Are you sure there isn't something that you aren't telling us?" the woman asked me.

"I don't think so. That's all I could remember. Honestly, I wouldn't lie to you. You've been kind to me and besides, we just met."

"She's telling the truth Master Loki," the burly man whispered turning towards Loki. He had a real knack at being able to tell if someone was lying or not.

"Fine then, we let her live. However, you are coming with me, girl." Loki said grabbing my arm and yanking me up from the chair I had been sitting in.

"Wait! I never learned your names!" I called out as Loki drug me away.

"I am Taulin. They are Ibraham, Hajata, and Mustafa," Taulin said as she pointed to the man with the snake thing, the skinny man, and the burly man.

"Bye Taulin! It was nice meeting you!" I yelled back over my shoulder.

"Take care of her Loki. She is very important. You know that. I can see it in your eyes." Taulin whispered to herself.

Taulin, Hajata, Mustafa, and Ibraham watched as Loki drug the young girl alongside him out into the desert. They were headed east, not knowing what was ahead of them, but continuing undaunted and one of the unwillingly.

"Would you let go of me already? I can walk on my own without you having to drag me across the desert! Do you think I'm going to _try_ to run away in **this?**" Nysa yelled at Loki for the fifth time that hour. He finally tired of her complaining and let go of her. "Thank you!" she said as she pulled her arm back to herself and started rubbing her write. Loki had had a tight grip on her since they had left and it was hurting her.

"Girl, I―" he started out, but Nysa interrupted him.

"My _name_ is Nysa. Ny-sa. Not girl. Got it?" she declared.

Loki turned around sharply and stood over Nysa glaring, making her shrink back a step. "Never again interrupt me." All she did was nod.

"As I was saying. I will help you find your way home as soon as you help me in my pursuit of Chaos," he said, turning back around.

"Th-thank you. I'm sorry I interrupted you. I will never forget you for helping me," she said sheepishly. The two companions continued their long journey through the hot desert. Nysa looked up at the sky to see where the sun was. It hung low in the western sky, signifying that night was drawing near. Loki and Nysa had been walking since the sun had been directly in front of them. Night was falling fast and Nysa's pace had been slowing gradually through their trip. The large wound in her side was not helping her either.

'_She's probably planning on running off as soon as we hit the forest.'_ Loki thought when he noticed the ever growing distance between the two of them as they drew nearer the forest in front of them.

'_Ahh, my side! I didn't think it was that bad, I guess I was wrong. No, I can't pass out. Not here, not now!'_ Nysa grabbed her side as it started to throb again. Blood started to seep through her fingers and she grew light headed. ;_Not here… come one Nys! Stay awake! You can't give up now! Not after you've gotten this far!'_

Loki watched out of the corner of his eye as Nysa fell to her hands and knees whimpering in pain. He topped walking and turned around eyes the strange girl. He became worried when he saw the blood dripping to the ground. '_How come I didn't notice that earlier?'_ he wondered as she fell to the ground after losing her battle with consciousness. Loki walked back to her prone body, lifted her up onto his shoulder and completed the trek to the forest. After reaching the forest, he found a suitable place for the night and places Nysa on the ground. Night had already fallen and the moon and stars were lighting up the night sky. Loki looked at the wound on Nysa's side and grimaces. It was pretty bad and most likely infected. He put his hand in his cloak and pulled out a dark vile. Uncapping it, he poured some of the substance on her injury and watches as it disappeared without a trace.

'_That's all I can do for her,'_ he thought as he noticed her disheveled appearance. Her once white clothes were covered in blood and sand, and her hair had dried blood in it. He walked away from her and sat on the opposite side of their little clearing. Leaning back on his hands, Loki watched as the bright stars winked at him as if they knew all his secrets. He glanced down across the small meadow after he had caught some movement out of the corner of his eye. '_She's waking up.'_

Nysa regained consciousness and sat up and started looking around for Loki. Finding him on the other side of a small clearing she yawned and stretched. Loki watched as she sat up, yawned, and stretched, arching her back and pushing her arms above her head. Sighing she placed her hands back on the ground and leaned forwards, making like she was going to get up, and get up she did. She walked into the middle of the clearing and looked up at the stars. Standing on her tiptoes she reached above her head as though she was plucking a star from the sky. Realizing that she was still dirty, she walked over to Loki and whispered to hi, not wanting to break the spell the moonlight had cast upon the forest, pointing to his left, "I'm going to the stream over there and taking a bath." All he did was nod at her and watch as she walked away.

'_sigh I didn't think that we'd ever get here. He must have carried me the rest of the way. I wonder what he looks like under that mask. Probably really handsome. Wait! Why am I thinking of _that? _He's mean and brutal and probably ugly!'_ I continued walking to the bubbling sound in front of me. I had finally found the stream. It wasn't very big, but that didn't matter. All that did matter was that I could get clean! After wallowing in this filth all day a bath would be wonderful. I cleaned up as best as I could. My clothes would continue to have blood stains on them, but at least the rest of me was clean. While I stood on shore wringing out my hair, which had somehow grown down to my waist, a person came out of the woods in front of me. As they stepped out into the light I realized that it was an old lady with something white draped over one of her arms.

"What do you want old woman?" came a voice from behind me. Startled I turned around quickly and looked at Loki leaning against the tree directly behind me, as though he had been there the entire time. '_twitch how long has _he_ been there?' _

"I just came to give this young maiden a gift, kind sire," the old lady replied sweetly.

"Why would _you _want to give _me _something, no offense." I asked stepping closer to the stream.

"None taken, my dear. You are a daughter in need, and even an old woman like me knows what it is like to have to wear bloodied clothes for far too long, milady," she answered solemnly.

"O…kay…" I said eyeing her suspiciously. I stepped forward anyways. If she tried to do anything funny then I could always…well…do something. I didn't know what at that moment, but I'd do something. Just then, an arm shot out in front of me hindering my progress over to the other side of the stream. I looked up to the owner of the arm and saw Loki standing there glaring at the woman.

"You stay here. You, old woman, will hand _me _the gift." He said stepping forward with his hand outstretched.

"Alright, alright, lad. I can understand you wanting to protect your lady," the old woman laughed, handing over the gift. "It's a set of clothes. They never get dirty or wet. There's no need to clean them and they chance to whatever color milady wants it to be."

Loki handed me the clothes and stood beside me. "Thank you." I said to the old lady. "You are very kind."

"Oh, nonsense. Well, I'll be on my way now. Take care you two." With that the old lady left use standing on the edge of the stream.

"Well, I'm going to go change. _No peeking!_" I said as I walked back towards the clearing that we were in earlier. The clothes were beautifully made. They were almost exactly like my previous outfit. The only difference was that there were fingerless gloves and the shirt was a V-neck instead of a straight neck. There was a beautiful little trinket on a thin silver chain too. I put the clothes on and placed the necklace over my head and set the trinket on my chest right as Loki walked back into the clearing staring at something in his hand. '_He is very strange.'_ I thought as I went over to the tree that I had seen earlier and sat down at its base. Loki continued to look at the thing in his hand thinking back to when he was alone at the stream.

flashback

The old woman came back after Nysa disappeared into the brush and called to Loki. "Here, young man, I almost forgot to give this to you. If that girl ever gets lost or runs away then this will help you find her. The necklace will get brighter as you get closer to her. She has one exactly like it and no one else will be able to see the light except for you two, so you have nothing to worry about when it gets to be very bright," she said as she held her hand out with the other necklace dangling down. Loki stuck out his hand and the old woman dropped the trinket into his palm then turned around and disappeared once again. He looked at the necklace and headed back to the clearing figuring that he had given Nysa enough time to change. When he reached the clearing Nysa was sitting at the base of a tree watching him intently.

end flashback

I combed my damp hair with my fingers, untangling all the little knots that my fingers came to. When I was done combing my hair, I braided it to keep it out of my face. I noticed that Loki was still looking at his hand. His behavior intrigued me and I was itching with curiosity to know what he was looking so intently at. I got up and walked across the clearing over to his side and looked at his hand. In it was a small necklace with a little faerie shaped charm at the end; it looked exactly like mine.

"What's that? I asked. My curiosity, finally reaching its limit, needed to be sated.

"Nothing of importance," he said sticking his hand inside his cloak, depositing the necklace in one of the many little hidden pockets.

I turned my head up to the sky and sighed. '_Does everyone think that I am really that stupid?'_ I chuckled at my stupid thought. _'Of course people would think I'm stupid if I continue to act like I am.' _I looked down at Loki and he looked up at me with inquisitive eyes. I said nothing and walked back over to my side of the clearing. I turned around and noticed that Loki was still watching me. '…_probably watching to see if I'm going to run away. sigh He's still wearing that mask too. Will I ever see the face behind it? No, I will. Someday I will see your face, Loki. I promise you that before I find my way home, I will see your face. What am I talking about he's mean, but he _is_ going to help me get home…' _I turned back to the tree in front of me and began to climb up it. It gave me a good vantage point and it was very comfortable. Too bad it had too narrow of branches or I would have slept up here. Instead, I decided on checking to see where we were. I climbed higher and higher wondering when I would reach the top. When I finally did, I gasped. It was beautiful. I couldn't believe it. The gazillions of stars that were so often blocked out by the city lights were now as clear as day surrounding me, dancing around my figure and winking at me. I let go of the tree and fell backwards, but never hit any branched. Just then, the wings of a large bird lifted me up towards the sky. With feathers cushioning my being, I soared into the heavens. But, sadly, that was just my imagination getting away from me once more.

I climbed back down the large tree slowly. When I had almost reached the bottom my footing slipped and I fell to the ground with an 'oomph.' Loki looked down at me from behind me while I looked upside down at him. I laughed nervously and turned around so my back was against the trunk of the tree. Saying goodnight I lay down on the ground, using my arm as a pillow, and fell asleep. It wasn't the most comfortable position in the world, but it was better than a concrete floor.

Loki's POV

I watched as the strange girl walked over to me and asked, "What's that?" I replied softly, "nothing of importance," as I tucked the strange trinket into my cloak, depositing it in one of the many hidden pockets. '_When she walked closer the necklace got brighter. Just like the old woman said.'_ It got so bright in fact, that it was almost blinding. I looked up at the creature above me. Her head was turned up towards the night sky and she was chuckling. She looked down at me and walked over to the other side of the clearing. She walked up to a tree and glanced back at me. Slightly shaking her head she turned back to the tree and began to climb. I watched as she climber higher and higher, until she was lost from my sight.

I stood up and walked over to the tree, but by the time I got over there she was already climbing down. As she got closer to the bottom I saw her footing slip and she fell, but I made no moved to catch her. She just sat there on the ground looking up at me, laughing nervously. Then she turned around, said goodnight, and lay down on her side falling asleep. I sat down next to her after I was sure she was asleep and turned my head back up to the stars. There was no point in staring at her all night long. But for some reason my gaze always landed on her sleeping figure lying beside me. At some point during the night she started to shiver. It was kind of cold out. Probably really cold for her, considering that she was hardly wearing reasonable clothing for the cold temperatures that we would come across in the mountainous region.

I sighed heavily, took off my cloak and draped it over her. '_She need sit more than I do. As soon as we get close to a village, though, I'm sending her in to get a cloak of her own.'_ I watched as she pulled the cloak closer to her body and snuggle into it. I was actually quite adorable, I couldn't stop a small smile from making its way onto my face. I could usually keep my emotions from showing by schooling my face into an emotionless mask, the same emotionless mask that I had been using for the last eighteen years. But for some reason, now that I was with her, I couldn't stop my emotions from showing, even just a little tiny bit. I stayed up all night keeping watching over the girl, no, Nysa at my side. Morning dawned cool and clear. We should have good traveling weather for the day. I fell asleep just before she woke up. I suppose that I was tired from the previous days events.

Normal POV

Sunlight broke through the branches of the trees and landed softly on Nysa's face, waking her from her slumber. Opening her eyes slowly and rubbing the sleep from them, she sat up and looked around for Loki. Looking to her side she was startled to find Loki sitting next to her with his head leaning against the tree trunk, asleep. Smiling softly she reached out her hand towards his face. '_He looks so peaceful when he's sleeping.'_ A hand shot up and grasped her wrist hen it got an inch away from his face. Gasping in surprise, Nysa tried to pull her hand back.

Loki looked up at her, glaring, then threw her wrist away from him saying, "Don't _ever_ try that _again._"

Blushing, Nysa looked down at the ground softly replying with a "yes sir." _'Why am I blushing? I never blush!'_ Her hands were groping at the ground for some sort of support or distraction from her embarrassment. Finding some kind of material underneath her hand she turned around. It was Loki's cloak. That's when she realized that he had put it over he had put it over her sometimes during the night. '_Why's he being so nice to me?'_ Grabbing his cloak she shoved it at him. "Thank you for allowing me to use this." She turned around, blushing again, and mumbled something about getting them some food.

Nysa walked into the woods a ways and reached to her side. There was a small dagger hanging there that she had found in the clothes when she had been changing. Seems the old woman knew she would need one. It was beautifully made. It had a black handle with ivy carved into it, and the metal was blue tempered steel with a wave in it that softly reflected the morning sun. Walking slowly and quietly through the thicket she spotted a hare. Sneaking up behind it she let the blade drop fast. '_I hope I don't hurt it badly.'_ She thought as the blade ripped through the rabbit's fur and into its neck. It was dead on the first strike, thankfully for Nysa. She didn't like killing anything. Well except for some bugs, like spiders.

She picked up the hare by its hind feet and walked back to the camp proudly. '_It should be enough for now. Loki should have some dried meat in one of his pockets. Oh and I should probably try to find some berries of some sort.'_ Looking around, she noticed that there were several berry bushes surrounding her already. Setting the hare down on the ground, she went about picking a bunch of berried and putting them in her old shirt, she just happened to have handy. When she was finished picking a sufficient amount of berried she picked up the hare and walked briskly back to the campsite.

Loki looked up at her when she walked in proudly holding a hare in her left hand and her old shirt in her right. She stepped over to him and set the hare down on the ground, along with the shirt. The shirt fell open when she set it down on the ground, allowing Loki to see what it was full of berries. '_Smart girl to have picked the right berries. We can take some with us for later.'_ He thought, grabbing the hare and pulling out a dagger of his own. Nysa walked back out into the surrounding woods leaving him to the dirty work of cleaning the hare. When she came back he had an armload of sticks and something greenish-brown in either one of her hands.

"What are those?" Loki asked pointing to the things in her hands.

"Oh! They're wild onions. I figured that I could chop them up and stick them inside the hare while it was cooking." Setting the wood down on the ground and placing the wild onions on her old shirt, she began her job of making a fire. After a few failed attempts she finally succeeded in sparking the dried grass that she had used for tinder. Loki had just finished cleaning the hare and had laid it down on her old shirt, which would most likely be discarded after this. Nysa came over, took out her dagger and chopped up the onions. Placing the little green pieces inside of the hare, she picked it up and placed it in the embers of the fire.

"There we go. That should cook nicely now," she said sitting down near Loki. They both watched the hare cooking in the fire, making sure that it didn't burn. When it was done cooking Nysa took it out of the fire using her fingers, which was a stupid move on her part because she burnt her fingers doing that.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!" she said putting the hare on her old shirt and waving her hand in front of her, trying to cool them off. Loki watched as she unsuccessfully cooled her hand down. "I'm such an idiot! Why didn't I―" Loki took her burnt fingers in his hand and slowly put them in his mouth, licking them one by one.

"Uhh…" was the only thing that Nysa could say as she watched Loki stick her fingers under the bottom part of his mask and into his mouth. When he was finished, her fingers didn't hurt anymore and it looked as though they were never burnt.

"How―"

Loki held up a small green leaf, "These are a healing herb. They help with burns. It takes a natural acid found in saliva to activate them though. So I chewed them up." He looked up at Nysa's face and smiled behind his mask when he realized that she was blushing madly.

"What's wrong with your face?" he jested.

She brought her hands up to her cheeks quickly and started blushing even more. Loki was having a field day with this. She turned towards the fire until she got her blush under control. She took out her dagger and cut up the hare into portions. Handing Loki his, she got up and walked around to the other side of the fire, taking her portion with her. '_I didn't think she'd react like that. Of course I didn't exactly think before doing that. She looks cute when she's blushing, I need to get her to do it more,'_ He thought to himself, watching her every move.

After they both finished eating Loki decided that they should get some rest before leaving. The two of them traveled and traveled. East; west; north; south. Three months of searching and there was still no sign of 'Chaos.' They had battled demons, sand worms, assassins, mercenaries, and robbers in their search for 'Chaos', but it was all to no avail; he was nowhere to be found. The days were spent walking and fighting; the nights spent sleeping and hunting. Nysa's clothes never got dirty, just like the old lady said, and the necklaces still worked as good as they did when they first received them. Nysa and Loki became closer to each other with every trial that they had to go through; their relationship was of the best of friends, if not something a little bit more that they just didn't see at that moment.

The times had changed, the seasons grew old and died as a new one gave birth and began to grow. Autumn was upon them in a haste which the summertime could not recover from. Sporadic rains pelted the duo as they continued to search throughout the country. The searching areas in Midgard were starting to get smaller and smaller with every day that passed by. The temperatures had dropped substantially; it was almost 40 degrees with a chilling wind blowing through the country side. '_At least we aren't in the mountains at this point in the year. shivers its already so cold out' _Nysa thought as she wrapped her cloak tighter around her.

"L-l-lok-k-k-ki. D-d-do yo-ou t-th-thin-k-k-k we c-c-could s-s-stop-p f-f-or t-the ni-i-gh-t-t, p-p-please?" Nysa chattered out her broken words as the wind whisked the breath out of her greedy lungs. Loki just nodded his head as he looked around the field that they were walking through.

"I thought I saw a grotto back that way. Let's head over there, then we'll stop for today," he replied as he started his diagonal ascent of the small hill to the left of the pair. They walked in silence for five minutes before they reached the area that Loki had spotted. It was a small place, just big enough for the two of them to lay down with a fire in between them, and was shielded from the wind by a group of trees. The wind began to howl through the countryside, sounding like a moaning ghost looking for its prey; the rain began to fall again too, washing the earth with the sky's tears.

Nysa left the grotto to find some wood for a fire; she knew they'd need it for warmth tonight. When she came back Loki was sitting on the ground leaning against a tree trunk, one leg bent the other outstretched, seemingly asleep against the tree. Nysa dropped her pile of wood onto the ground, gathering her tinder together, and began her task of making their crackling warmth. Once she got the fire started, Nysa walked over to Loki and kneeled in front of him. She reached her hand out, gently, towards his face, reaching for his mask. She got her fingers on the tip of the mask when Loki's eyes shot open and his hand darted up, wrapping itself around her hand.

"What the hell do you think you're doing!" he practically yelled at her. She flinched and backed away from him with a scared look on her face. Afraid that he was going to do something more and afraid of embarrassing herself even more Nysa got up and ran out of the grotto and into the forest that was behind them. She didn't know where she was going but she felt the need to get away from him at that time. He's probably chase right after her anyways. He would never let her run away like this, so he just had to come and get her. '…_or not. I'm probably more of a burden to him than anything, what with the way he has to save me practically every time that we fight.'_ Nysa ran as fast as she could, dodging trees and bushes. It started to rain harder making it difficult to run on the now flooded ground. The evening sun was gone from sight and dark clouds covered the entire sky making the woods very dark. The wind picked up and blew the stinging rain against Nysa's already freezing body. '_I thought he would follow me. I guess I am a burden after all.' _Looking behind her again to see if Loki had even bothered to chase her, she missed seeing the tree roots in front of her and tripped. Nysa hit her head on the tree and landed sprawled on the forest floor.

Back at the grotto Loki decided to go after her now. Taking out his necklace he headed in the direction that Nysa had run off in. Making sure that the necklace was getting brighter, he began to walk faster. The light got very bright and he looked up ahead. There she was, lying in the mud at the base of a tree, soaking wet and unconscious. But, Loki didn't step forward to grab her fast enough. From the sky came two crows. When they landed they turned into two women.

"What do you think, Huginn? Is it her?" said the shortest one.

"It looks like her. We'll just have to take her to Freya so that she can deal with her," said the taller woman, identified as Huginn. Loki stepped forward to grab Nysa before the two women could touch her, but Huginn noticed and chuckled. "Oh dear, look Muninn, he thinks he can take the girl from us." Muninn laughed also and stepped in front of Loki.

"Uh-uh. Tisk, tisk, tisk. You can't have her, my dear, Loki. And now that you've lost her you will never get her back," said Muninn. Narrowing his eyes, Loki pulled out his sword and slid into an attacking position.

"Give her back."

Huginn had begun chanting in the background while Muninn just smile ruefully at Loki and said, "Aww, the poor little man wants his lover back. Well, you're too late! She's _ours_ now!" Laughing maniacally Huginn and Muninn disappeared taking Nysa along with them.

Lowering his sword to the ground, Loki looked disbelievingly at the spot where Nysa had lain. '_They took her. She's gone. Now I'll never find her. **No**__I have to find her. I heard what Taulin said, she is supposed to be important. But to who or what? Is she supposed to be important to Midgard…or to…me?'_


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Things Aren't Always as They Appear

Everything was pitch black. I couldn't see anything, not even the hand in front of my face, if in fact my hand was where I thought I placed it. A cool breeze blew in from somewhere in the darkness, but from where, I couldn't tell. A door opened, enveloping me, and whoever else was unfortunate enough to be locked up with me, in the blinding light.

"All of you are coming with me," said a shadow that had stepped into the doorway. We picked ourselves up off of the ground and walked towards the light. My eyes had finally adjusted to the light when we had stepped into the corridor and I looked at the other two people who were with me. One was a tall man in all black with black hair and the palest skin I had ever seen. The other was a beautiful woman with blonde hair and blue eyes, just like me only, as far as I know, I still have green eyes. She looked over at me and glared. We were lead down the corridor and into another room where, once again, there was minimal light. We were told to stay right there while the short woman, who had led us there, disappeared behind a large door.

She came back and smirked, pointing at me and saying 'come' as if I was some dog who obeyed their masters every command. I didn't budge from my spot though. The woman with the dark brown hair and glasses glared at me and commanded me again to 'come'. Only this time I moved, but it was against my own will; it was as though someone else was controlling my body. I walked through the door, with the woman following me, into a candle lit room. There was a throne in the middle of the room. In the throne was a woman; there was no way to describe her except deathly beautiful and commanding in appearance.

"Good, we finally have you. Now we will get the power we need. Laera take her back to the cell. We'll keep her there until we need her: the woman on the throne said, dismissing us. I was led back out of the throne room and past where the two other people were supposed to be; instead there was only the one blonde woman, the man was nowhere to be seen. I was led back to that same little room that I was in earlier; pitch black and all.

"You will be staying here from now on. Bread and water will be brought to you every morning and you will be expected to eat it. It not then have fun starving to death." With that the lady with the glasses, Laera, left slamming the door in the process.

'_I want out of here! Where am I? I just want to go home! Loki, where are you? I need you!'_ I couldn't take it anymore. I didn't know where I was, I was being ordered around like I was some slave willing to do their master's bidding, I was locked in a hellhole of a cell deep underground in the dark. I was scared. I admit it, I was terrified and I felt so alone. Obviously I was in a castle somewhere. But where was a whole other question. '_Loki, help me. You have to find me. **Please!'**_

I walked up to the wall with my hands in front of me. I had to find a way out of here. I groped along the wall trying to feel a way out. I went around the entire room but there was no way out. The whole room was sealed off; it felt like it was carved out of the ground not built. Even the door was impossible to get out of from in here, considering that I couldn't even find the door, it was a seamless one. I huffed loudly and banged on the walls, screaming. I wanted out. I would probably end up going crazy in here. It was so dark and I needed the light. I thrived in light; in the darkness I felt like I was being swallowed whole, as though my very soul was being sucked right out of me. I sank sown to me knees, tears coursing down my cheeks. It was hopeless. There's no way out of here. I lay down on the ground and cried myself to sleep wondering '_Where are you, Loki?' _

Loki's POV

After I had lost Nysa to Odin's henchmen, well henchwomen is more like it, I set out after her. They had said something about having to give her to Freya. If they were to give her to Freya then I should find her hideout. '_Where could Freya have her hiding place? It could be anywhere!'_ I continued walking east like we had planned just two days ago. I was sure that I would find something out there. It was our mission in the first place, to head east, it was her idea actually. I smiled ruefully at the thought. Things wouldn't be the same without her, but I had to continue looking for Chaos too. We promised each other…

flashback

"Hey, Loki?"

"Hn. What?"

"Promise me that… that if anything happens to me that you'll keep looking for Chaos and that you'll never forget me. Okay? Promise?" Nysa looked at Loki with a sad sort of hope in her eyes.

"Nysa," he whispered so quietly that even he didn't think he said it. "I…I promise."

"Thanks Loki!" she exclaimed wrapping her arms around his torso as he stiffened in surprise. "I'll never forget you either! Never ever!" Surprised by her own actions, she backed away from the embrace blushing. "S-sorry. I-I didn―"

"It's alright." He said with a hint of a smile on his face, but Nysa couldn't see it since he still had his mask on.

end flashback

'_I have to keep searching for Chaos, but I will look for you on my way, Nysa. I won't give up on you and I'll never forget you.'_ It seems that over the course of three months that, maybe, my mission has changed. At first it was all about Chaos, but now I feel obligated to her, to protect her from anything and everything. Taulin had said that she was important, but I didn't know what she was supposed to be important for. I supposed that if I kept her around for long enough that I would eventually find out. I now know… she was to be important to me. She was to return my humanity to me, but that's different now since she was taken away from me. I have a feeling, though, that if I continue to head east that we will meet up again. Somehow, somewhere, I know that we will…eventually.

Normal POV

Loki continued eastward in his search for Chaos and Nysa. In another part of Midgard, Chaos was searching for Loki, as well. The only clue given to him was that he was to find the man that was 'human but not'.

flashback

"Before your journey comes to an end…you must confront those two again," said the queen of the gods, Frigg, referring to Sara Irine, a blonde Valkyrie who worked for Freya, and Skurai the cursed assassin, with long black hair and skin as pale as the moon.

"Impossible! How could that be? Nidhogg incinerated them!" yelled a furious Fenris Fenrir, a companion of Chaos'.

flash flashback

'_The dragon! It's―'_ thought Sara Irine.

"Oh, dear… Oh, dear…I suppose we'll have to help, Huginn…" Said Muninn, watching as Nidhogg, the eternal dragon of death, shot a tremendous blast at the Valkyrie.

"It would be most inconvenient for us if those two should die now," Huginn stated.

"We still have need of you, Sara Irine… Skurai," Muninn said a strange ball of light emitting from her hand.

'_I'm dooms! A giant? But how? Why?'_ Sara Irine though as a giant appeared in front of the blast the dragon shot out.

_This is not the time for questions. Hurry up and teleport, Valkyrie. _ a voice said in her mind.

"A Beholder!" a tall man wearing all black with black hair, Skurai, said noticing the two women.

_You still hesitate? Very well! I shall send you to a place… of my own choosing._ Muninn said in Sara Irine's head, transporting her to a different place.

'_That voice in my head! That figure―'_ those were her last thoughts before she was transported and the giant disintegrated instead of her.

End of flashback in flashback

"1,000 years ago, when you all lay dying, I made a deal to save you from hell. I offered the life, the soul, of a goddess to the dragon Nidhogg. My spirit is tied to him even now, but in return, he spared you. I come to you now, to warn you, to guide you… Balder… No, Chaos…You are needed to protect this world…It has been your destiny from the beginning," said the Lady Frigg.

"My…destiny? Me? Protect the world? People I knew just died before my eyes and I couldn't do anything! Me and my sword…Nuri…Seri…Lord Irine…Peony…and Matthew…They were close enough to touch…but…but I… I want nothing more to do with all this! Find someone else!" Chaos declared.

"There is no one but you, Chaos," Fenris said.

"No! I won't be forced into this! You want a protector…but I can't protect anything! I bring only death! Just look at Fayon! They're all dead because I couldn't protect them!"

"1,000 years…your outer appearance has changed…and you can't recall the past…but your spirit… that same defiant spirit, has remain true to itself…to you. You are indeed my son…Balder. You are right. It is too soon for any of you to take on this quest. First you need to find the one who is both human…and not. He will be necessary if you have any hope of success…or even survival," Lady Frigg whispered.

"Can you tell us how to find him?" Chaos asked.

"West…go west, Chaos. Into the very lair of those who hunt you. There you will find the answers you seek." With that the Lady Frigg disappeared.

end flashback

'_West…Go west, Chaos. That's what she said. And that's where we're headed. But who is this man who is both human and not? How will I know who he is?'_ the small company hiked through the woods on the outskirts of Fayon. Three women and one man: Fenris Fenrir, a female warlock; Iris Irine, a cleric; Lidia, a thief; and Chaos, a rune knight. An odd group to be working together I'm sure, but they all had one common goal: to save Midgard.

Back at Freya's hideout, after three months of being locked in a dark cell Freya had finally found a purpose for Nysa.

"Laera, bring the girl here," Freya commanded to one of her Valkyries.

"Yes, Mistress Freya," Laera said, backing out the door and heading to the dungeon. She arrived at the last cell in the corridor and unlocked the cell door. "Come one, girl." She yanked on Nysa's arm and pulled her out of the cell and briskly walked back to the throne room. She entered the room and tossed Nysa on the ground in front of Freya.

"Here she is, Mistress," she said and backed into the shadows surrounding the room.

"Ah, yes. And what is your name, girl?" Freya asked her.

"Nysa," she said picking herself up off of the ground.

"Alright, Nysa. You're going to be working for me from now on. Laera, take her to the tower and begin her… training. From there, send her on her mission."

"Yes, Mistress," Laera said, stepping out from the shadows and dragging Nysa to the tower.

"What are you going to do to me up there?" Nysa asked, curious as to what would happen to her.

"Oh, nothing, really; just a little brainwashing and making you into one of us, that's all. Oh! Then we will send you out and you will hunt down a person for us," Laera said coolly.

"No! I won't let this happen. Let me go!" Nysa screamed at Laera, trying to wrench her arm out of Laera's strong grasp. However, her strength did not surpass the Valkyries and, alas, she could not get away. Laera drug her though long halls and through several different rooms and up steps, until finally they reached the tower. It actually wasn't a tower in itself, but rather it was just a room that was up a couple flights of steps. In it was a plain chair sitting in the middle of the room. The chair had straps on it, obviously to tie a person into it. Nysa kept trying to escape Laera's grasp, but it still wouldn't work. With great struggle, she finally got Nysa secured into the chair and walked over to a wall. There was a lever on that side, one you wouldn't notice until you were directly in front of it, or if you knew it was there in the first place.

"Goodbye, Nysa. See you when you wake up," she said smirking evilly. That said, she pulled down on the lever and a bright light emitted from the ceiling encompassing Nysa in its luminescence. Screams echoed off the stone walls as the light steadily grew brighter. One final scream reverberated around the hideout when the light reached its brightest and slowly shut off.


	4. The End

Chapter 3

Forget-Me-Not

The brightness died and all that was left was a motionless body tethered to a chair in the middle of the room. Slowly the person in the chair opened their eyes. A torch was lit off to the side and was brought forward to the person in the chair.

"Asan, your mission is to find two me. One is named Loki and the other is named Chaos. Once you find them you are to kill them. Once you have killed them report back to Mistress Freya immediately. Also, send Sara Irine, she is overdue for her meeting," Laera said, untying the ropes on Asan's wrists and ankles. Asan stood up and teleported herself out of the castle and out into the forest. Looking back towards where the castle was you could see nothing. There was a barrier protecting the castle; apparently it was an invisibility barrier. Asan set out on her pursuit of Loki and Chaos, marching through the forest towards the southeast.

'_Find Loki and Chaos and kill them. Report back to Freya. Find Sara Irine and tell her to go back to the castle.'_ Those were the only thoughts running through her mind as she walked along the forest floor. '_Wait,'_ she thought suddenly, "I'm a Valkyrie, so I can fly, duh! I'm such an idiot!" she said smacking her hand against her forehead. Shaking her head in dismay, she took to the air, looking down at the ground all the while. Off to her left to the east she noticed some movement and headed in that direction. There were two groups heading directly towards each other and a man coming up from the south. There was one man heading from the east and four people heading towards him from the west. '_I guess I'll just stay right here and see how things play out with this. It should be interesting enough; at least for now.'_

Looking up at the sky, Loki checked to make sure he was headed in the correct direction. '_Three months and still no sign of either Nysa or this Chaos person.'_ Sighing Loki trudged forward out from the forest into a very large meadow. Across the field, at the same time, a man stepped out followed by three women. One was complaining really loudly while one was yelling at the complainer to shut up, the other one was just rolling her eyes. The only man in the group narrowed his eye in Loki's direction.

"Who are you? Friend or Foe?" the man called out to Loki.

"It depends on what you would consider an assassin," he replied.

"Well that would depend on whether you were looking to kill me or one of my companions," he replied back.

"What's your name, maybe then I can tell you if it's you that I have been searching for or not," Loki called out, taking a couple more steps into the middle of the field.

"My name's Chaos, this is Fenris, Iris and Lidia," he said pointing to each in order. "Now since I have told you my name, why don't you tell me yours?"

"I am known as Loki. But you can just think of me as your executioner."

"What? My executioner? So you are after me after all? What'd I do to you? Steal a face worm from one of your friends?" he joked.

"You killed my brethren. All of them are dead now. I have come to kill you to avenge their spirits."

"What? I don't know what you're talking about!"

From the south came the other man. He finally stepped out into the field laughing maniacally. Everyone turned to look at the crazy man walking into their presence.

"Yes, yes, Talatsu. I can smell that power that is over here. Maybe this time it will quench your thirst unlike the Assassin's Guild did," He said, seemingly talking to himself.

_I shall have their blood, Skurai. I shall feed_ came the voice in his head. The man, Skurai, held his sword up in front of his face and smiled.

"Which one would you like to start with Talatsu? The Legendary Assassin? Or the Legendary Rune Knight?" He chuckled as he tilted his head to the side eyeing Loki. "It seems we will kill you first, assassin. You may have gotten away from us while we were visiting your friends, but you will not get away from us today!" He yelled jumping at Loki.

Chaos stared at Skurai. '_That's the man who killed Nuri and Seri, Lord Irine and Peony! That's the murderer! Wait! Iris!'_ Chaos turned around, but Iris was already gone. He turned back around and ran after her running body. Grabbing her from behind, he tackled her to the ground.

"No, Iris. You can't go after him! He's too dangerous!"

"But, Chaos! He's the one who killed my family! He's the one who killed my dad! He killed my mom! I want to kill him! Let me kill him, Chaos!" She screamed at him pushing Chaos off of her.

"No! You can get your revenge later! But not now! Please, not now! I don't want you to die too!" He pleaded.

Laughing was heard coming from up above. Someone had been watching them the entire time. The figure descended from the sky to about twenty feet off of the ground in front of the mishap group of people.

"Nysa!" Loki called out, happy that he had finally found her.

"I don't know who you talk about, boy," the woman in the sky said. "Skurai, the cursed Prosecutor, I saw you at the castle correct?" with a slight nod from the named, she continued. "Good, do you know where Sara Irine is? Freya is looking for her and she is very displeases."

"Last I had seen she had headed off to Fayon," he replied.

'_I know that's her. How can she not remember me? She has to! She promised! Unless…no! Freya must have erased her memory!'_ Loki, looking slightly discombobulated, turned back to Skurai and charged at him. "Our battle is not finished yet, Skurai!"

Skurai rushed at Loki to finish what he had started. Besides, Talatsu was annoying him with his constant complaints about him stopping to talk to someone. They exchanged blows for quite some time while the others looked on interested to see the outcome of the battle. Asan landed on the ground near Chaos and his little band of followers. "Who are you, boy?" she asked walking towards him.

"Cha…Balder," he said, changing it at the last second, getting this odd feeling that he _had_ to do that. Loki and Skurai looked at him sharply, stopping their fight once more.

"Oh, alright then… you're not the one I'm looking for," she said walking away from him and over to the girls. Looking them up and down, she deduced that none of these could be Loki or Chaos. They just didn't have that air around them. "Well, I have another Valkyrie to find. Tootles," she said, and then disappeared into a cloud of mist. '_Now where could you be Sara? Skurai said Fayon, so I suppose I will check in that area.' _Flying over Fayon, Asan noticed nothing but rubble. Obviously Sara had already been here.

"Valkyrie Asan, you are looking for Sara Irine. She is to the south in a secluded part of the mountains. You will find her sitting in an open field. She is waiting for you, but doesn't know it."

Asan looked behind her and saw two women, two _very_ familiar women. _'Where have I seen them before?'_

"Now is not the time for questions. You must deliver your message to Sara Irine immediately," said the short one. Asan complied and left, heading south to the mountains. There she found Sara Irine waiting. '_Just like those two women said.'_ Sara Irine looked up and watched as Asan descended to the ground in front of her.

"Oh you…What do you want?" she sneered.

"Freya told me to come and get you. You are overdue for your meeting with her. She got tired of waiting for you and sent me to find you instead. Now you can either go willingly or I can force you to go," Asan said narrowing her eyes at Sara Irine.

"Fine, I'll go, but only if I never have to see your ugly face again," she retorted.

Unrelenting though, Asan spit at Sara's feet and said, "you can be sure that I don't want to see you eve again either."

Sara disappeared around a couple of trees and Asan evaporated into a cloud of mist once again. When she got back to the adverse group she walked over to Chaos and stood next to him.

"So, Balder, what is that other mans name?" she asked.

"Oh, him? I think he said his name was Loki," Chaos replied scratching his head, "Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's what he said."

"Good. Skurai, you can have him," she said point to Chaos who let out a 'hey!', "He's of no use to me. But him," she said pointing to Loki, "he is one of the two that I have been searching for. He is mine."

Loki looked disbelievingly at Asan. '_She's been searching for me? Could she really remember? Was Nysa just playing around?'_ Taking out her sword Asan attacked Loki.

"Why are you attacking me, Nysa?" he asked blocking the blow.

"Once again, you call me Nysa. I know not of who you speak," she said attacking his left side. Loki blocked and dodged as she took another swing at him. "That is it! I tired of your petty actions! Fight me!"

"No! I believe that you still remember, it's just locked away somewhere," he said, once again dodging more swift blows.

"Foolish boy! You just don't know who you talk to. I am Asan, a Valkyrie under the command of the Great Goddess Freya! I can kill you at anytime that I want." Finally she landed a blow on Loki. She only nicked his arm though, just enough to make it bleed.

"The why haven't you killed me yet?" He asked, hope filling his heart.

"Because I have no had a good fight in a long time, that I can remember. I would like to enjoy at least one worthy opponent…"

Loki had had it, if she wouldn't remember by words, then she'd remember by force. He took off his cloak, scarf and mask and threw them behind him. Asan watched as he discarded his outer clothing. She smirked at him and charged.

"Now, Are you ready to fight me?" she yelled, running at him. His only answer was attacking her. He knocked her sword out of her hands and tackled her to the ground. Pinning her down with her arms above her head in one of his hands and her legs pinned beneath his, he placed his free hand on her forehead.

"You _will_ remember!" he whispered fiercely. A light emitted from the palm of his hand and dissipated when he pulled it back from her forehead. Memories returned like a fire rushes through a dry field.

flashback

"Promise me that… that if anything happens to me that you'll keep looking for Chaos and that you'll never forget me. Okay? Promise?"

"Nysa, I…I promise."

end flashback

'_Please, remember me. You said you'd never forget me.' _

Nysa's POV

I opened my eyes, feeling the weight of a person on top of me. I opened my eyes and was startled when I saw that it was Loki. At least it looked like Loki. No, I'm pretty sure it was. His eyes gave it away. Those beautiful blue eyes of his. '_He's just not wearing'_ "your mask…" I said raising my hand up to his face. I thought that he would grab my hand again or slap it away, but he didn't this time. He let my hand make its way to his face. My fingers touched his cheek and I smiled. I watched in fascination as my fingers traced the contour of his face. It was real. He had his mask off and he was sitting…on top of me… I got a little irked, but I kept on smiling. I was so happy to finally see him with his mask off. '_He's so'_ "handsome."

I watched as a smile broke out on his face, at that I turned beat red. He was gorgeous! And his smile made him even more breath-taking. He got up off of me and pulled me up into a sitting position. I looked off to the side and saw Skurai and Chaos fighting.

"Do you remember anything after you were taken?" Loki asked from my side as we both stood up.

"Nothing except for being kept in a cell forever. Other than that I cant remember anything. I didn't kill anyone did I? Did I hurt you?" with a reaffirming shake of his head, I continued. "I know I was sent to kill you and Chaos, which I think is the man that Skurai is fighting, but I don't know if I actually did anything."

"You didn't hurt anyone, Nysa, so you have nothing to worry about," he reassured me. I stepped out towards the area where Chaos and Skurai were fighting. It seemed that Chaos had gotten a few scratches from Talatsu, but nothing more. That was a relief. Skurai on the other hand, had quite a few lesions on his self. Chaos seemed to be winning at this point, but I couldn't let anything happened to either him or Loki. So I ran in between Skurai and Chaos with Loki calling to me to stop. Both of the men stopped their descending blows in mid-swing.

"What are you doing, woman?" Skurai inquired callously.

"What does it look like, you fool? He is not to die by your hand today," I said narrowing my eyes in his direction. "Chaos, you and your group are to leave now. You are not to be a part of this fight at the moment."

"You are no longer the Valkyrie are you? You have your memory back! Yes, yes, Talatsu, you will feed. We will have one of those two men, woman. Now let me get back to my fight!" he growled out.

"No! You can not have either of them! I won't let you!" I said spreading my arms out to either side of me.

"Nysa! Please don't do this! Don't risk your life for mine!" Loki called out desperately. I looked over at him to see his face and watched as his pleading eyes grew wide in fear as he yelled out 'no!' Everything went in slow motion for me: Loki's mouth moving and the hand that came down on my shoulder. I felt myself being pulled in a backwards motion as my body was twirled around.

Normal POV

Nysa's body was twirled around so she faced Skurai. As soon as she faced him Talatsu ran through her midsection. Loki and Chaos watched in abject horror as she was stabbed right before their eyes. Skurai rammed his sword in Nysa's body down to the hilt and pulled I back out slowly, twisting it whilst he pulled, allowing her to suffer in her death. Her eyes were wide and her mouth hung slightly open in a silent scream. She cried out as Skurai pulled the rest of his words out and shoved it into the ground, allowing her to fall to her knees.

Blood poured freely onto the ground in front of her. Her wide eyes pranced wildly trying to find something to hold onto. Next to her was Talatsu, standing firmly in the ground. Twisting sideways, she brought her hand up onto the hilt of the might blood-lusting sword. Grasping it tightly she stood up quickly and stabbed it through Skurai's heart. His body dropped to the ground, immediately dead. Coughing, Nysa let go of the accursed sword and brought her other hand up to her mouth. Feeling a warm fluid run down her chin, she brushed it off and brought her hand in front of her face. Blood covered her hand and filled her mouth when she started coughing again, and she fell to the ground unconscious.

Shook out of his stupor, Loki raced over to Nysa's prone form, pulling her head into his lap. He traced the sides of her face, brushing her hair out of the way.

"Come one, Nysa. Wake up. Please, wake up!" he whispered fiercely. Using his middle and index finger he checked for her pulse. Again and again he checked, but found nothing. She had died in his arms while he sat there doing nothing to save her. After shaking her a few times and whispering to her to 'please, wake up,' he finally gave up. Laying his forehead on hers he started to cry. For the first time in his whole life, Loki had cried. For someone that he hadn't known as long as he knew the others, but he had cried for her all the same.

Perhaps it was the guilt of knowing that he did nothing to save her from her doom. Or perhaps it was the fact that he couldn't do anything to save her. N one will ever know. For, after kissing her forehead and placing her body back on the ground, Loki looked up at Chaos with grim resolution written all over his face. A bright light engulfed him and Chaos. So bright it was to be as blinding. And with and anguished scream, the light disappeared, leaving only one man standing…Chaos. Loki, it seems, had given his power to Chaos so that he may defeat Freya and save the World from Raganarök (the end of the world). His body was now lying on the ground in a heap next to Nysa's.

The rest of the fight is history. Perhaps Raganarök happened. Perhaps it didn't. No one knows. There is no record of it happening, but then again, the world, as it is now known, is quite different from the world that once was.

I was woken by a slap on my desk and a shout of my name.

"Miss Havok, would you care to join me in the land of the waking for just ten more minutes?" Mr. Johnson asked sarcastically.

"Sorry, Mr. Johnson. Won't happen again." I said as I sat up straight in my chair. '_Was that all just a dream? But it felt so real!' _After ten minutes of wondering the bell rand and I moved onto my next class.

"Whoopee! It's math time!" Davey said as he walked past me into the math room with another random girl linked on his arm. I chuckled and took my seat right as the starting bell rang.

"Okay, class. I'm sure you heard that you would have a new student in here, earlier this morning. So I'd like you all to meet Loki Adams." When Ms. Applegate had said Loki's name my head shot up, along with the rest of my body. Our eyes locked and I was frozen in shock. There he was: the man from my dream. The same eyes and everything!

"It wasn't just a dream then," I said as my hand traveled up to my neck. Feeling a chain, I broke eye contact with him and pulled the necklace out of my shirt. The blinding light made me look away. It was the same necklace that I had in Midgard.

"Loki, you can go find and empty seat. I think I see one next to Nysa there." Ms. Applegate said, shooing him down the aisle. When he reached my side I lifted my hand up and touched his cheek.

"It's really you," I whispered.

"It's really me," he answered back, smiling slowly. I could tell her was holding something back, but I couldn't tell what. Suddenly he threw his arms around me and held me close to him. I wrapped my arms around him and felt his ragged breathing and shaking body.

"I thought I'd lost you forever," he choked out. "He killed you right before my eyes and I couldn't stop him. I'm so sorry, Nysa. I'm so sorry for everything."

"Shh, shh, its okay now, Loki. You're here, I'm here and we're both alive, so its okay. I'll never let you leave again." He sighed in relief and hesitantly let go of me, but kept his arms around my waist. "What happened to the others?" I asked.

"I don't know. But they're bound to be around here somewhere." He said as his hand came up to my cheek. Our lips met slowly in a soft kiss as an 'ehem, do you mind?' was heard from Ms. Applegate. Blushing, we parted and sat down in our seats, sneaking glances at each other all say.

No one, except for the ones that were left behind, knows of what really happened. Whether Chaos defeated Freya or she defeated him. It will forever remain a mystery, a legend, a myth…lost in time over the centuries that had past.


End file.
